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Abdid on Stavengar: An Ashik's Recollections of War
What follows is a passage of Abdid's memoirs relating to the Seven Seasons War: "I am Abdid-ibn-al-Walid, and in the common tongue have been called The Sword of the Father. I wield the sacred blade of the same name, which has been inscribed with sacred runes and blessed by the Salatim himself. I am victor of the first Grand Tournament, friend and apprentice of the Sawmanji, advisor to the Shahadash, and an Emir of the armies of Kaz’ur. My sons are Zameel, Aayid, Mutammam, and Rushahn. My daughters are Hasana, Thaamira, and Nadiyya. I have ridden to battle with my own kin, with Ashelani and Ignati and Dwarf, and have seen much of the world. As I write this, I am a guest of the Emperor Chimeryx in the lands of the Ignati, where my own troops and an army of Ashelani have joined with his armies. The war is nearly at an end. With Stavengar defeated, the dissolution of the Reich imminent, the threat of the hunger, and the dawn of this so-called, “Age of Immortality” there are far more pressing concerns to attend to. Currently, things are in a state of flux. I have been ordered to remain here to support the Ignati in the wake of the formation of our alliance, and though I am more than ready to do so, the issues relating to this immortality situation have ground all action to a halt. To this end, I have decided to write an account of the war thus far. My main focus will be a description of the battles and military planning utilized within the war, but I will include a historical missive as well, based upon my own experiences and those of whom I have spoken to regarding the conflict. When the late King Stinheim’s newest mine was proving increasingly difficult to construct, he decided to pass a piece of legislation temporarily cancelling the brewing of alcohol to encourage productivity. Passed in the middle of brewing season, many of the commoners were outraged at the legislation, and many of the nobility were seething, resentful of the King’s growing power. Rebellion officially began when members of the so-called, “Brotherhood of the Eternal Brewing Season” ambushed the King in the streets of the capitol, and slew him. Information regarding the brotherhood prior to the revolution is scarce, but I have learned bits and pieces about it. Prior to the war the brotherhood represented a group composed of certain members of the nobility, bureaucrats, and wealthy alcohol merchants. Ostensibly these members were brought together through their mutual ties to the alcohol industry, but the group was also unified by a mutual distrust of the increasing power the King was beginning to wield in Stavengar. In the aftermath of the assassination, key brotherhood member General Borgek and his men deserted, calling the new King a pretender and deriding his authority. Fleeing north, accompanied by other members of the brotherhood and by a flood of anti-monarchy commoners, the General and other high ranking members declared their independence. The newly created Dwarven Peoples’ Federation seized the mines and the undercities in the north, and declared that no king would ever rule in their lands. All dwarves, they proclaimed, would live equally; with unrestricted access to alcohol. In reality, economic equality was not widespread within the Federation, as many of whom commanded no small measure of their own wealth and influence. Numerous issues regarding the implementation of their policies, coupled with a slew of other logistical and economic problems, left the new Dwarven state with little to no actual power. In a show of support for their longtime ally, the Rhiam Reich sent an army under the aid of the noted tactician Duke Adolph, who landed accompanied by his men shortly afterwards. In the beginning, King Azaghal attempted to resolve the crisis diplomatically, deciding to convert the monarchy into a republic, allowing the nobility and the citizenry alike to elect representatives to a council that would make decisions regarding the fate of the nation. The King himself, alongside General Borgrek, would become the first consuls, heading the senate as equals. Preferring their own independence, the Federation rejected all diplomatic attempts to reunify, and instead integrated Borgrek’s own soldiers into an army buoyed by the nobilities own soldiers and by commoner recruits. War, it seemed, was inevitable. In light of this, Duke Adolph’s troops moved to subdue the rebel forces, a powerful and impressive procession of human, dwarf, and orc soldiers, anticipating a quick and easy victory against the outnumbered and underequipped rebels. Truth be told, the Reich soldiers should have been more wary. It is important, I feel, to describe the nature of the DPF military. Three main groups constituted the sole army at this point. Most important by far were Borgrek’s personal soldiers, who numbered five-hundred dwarves at the time. These were tried and true veterans fighting under their experienced commander, easily a match for the best of the Reich soldiers. Followed by this, there were the soldiers and mercenaries brought in by the nobility, who numbered fifteen hundred strong. Their quality, level of experience, and morale were varying, but they were on the whole well equipped and trained to within an acceptable standard. Lastly, recruits from among the commoners, who numbered 3000 dwarves strong. On the whole, this group was woefully underequipped, undertrained, and totally unprepared to battle the professional army of the Reich. They suffered a great many casualties, though many of the survivors of this force went on to become exceptional warriors, some of whom I later fought beside and talked with. Allowing the soldiers to advance across the land mostly uncontested, save for small skirmishes in heavily entrenched positions and a few daring ambushes, Borgrek waited until the Reich forces had entered the underground tunnels crossing across the small nation, connecting the undercities and acting as a means to funnel supplies and soldiers across the front lines. From there, he began his own offensive. Collapsing numerous tunnels and burying many of the Reich soldiers underground in an instant, he began a campaign using his elite soldiers to harass and bloody the nose of the enemy, defending key locations with the new recruits and noble soldiers. His strategic cunning and military skill caught Duke Adolph by complete surprise, and before he knew it his forces had been completely bogged down, caught on the outskirts of the federation’s under cities. When the Duke made the decision to retreat, three-thousand of his eight-thousand soldiers were missing or dead, and countless more were wounded. He fell back to Stavengar, and Borgrek was able to use the time to consolidate his soldiers, having successfully bloodied the nose of his enemies and bought his fledgling country a little more time. Federation forces had suffered considerable losses themselves, and while the core of his army was still in good shape, the General knew that he would be unable to fend off Stavengarian soldiers as well without additional personnel. Dark, quick, and exceedingly dangerous were the battles in these tunnels. I later spoke with a dwarf named Cael, a commoner veteran of the war, who described one notable engagement to me. “Back then, they were usin’ us to defen’ important locations in the tunnels, mos’ly entrances to the cities or importan’ junctions. I was part of a group ‘about five hundred or so strong, and we were defendin the entrance to Lyrak, one of the cities based aroun an Adamantium mine. We was in groups of 50, 10 of the nobl’s boys and 40 of us commoners. Borgrek’s boys kept to themselves, going out for weeks at a time, leavin and comin often, only takin orders from the General himself.” Upon mentioning Borgrek, he shut his eyes and was silent for a few seconds, murmuring to himself in a low voice, before continuing. “So we ‘ear word from down the tunnel the nex’ group down the line had been routed, and the enemy was ‘eadin our way. We got awful excited at this, ‘cause we’d been spoilin for some action for a while now. About ten minutes before the attack, we ‘eard em marchin. Step. Step. Step. Clank. Clank. Clank. It was drivin us all nuts, and we were rarin to fight when we finally caught sight of ‘em. All in a grand line, them huge orcs in the front, with the ‘umans and dwarves behind. The nobles boy tol’ us to hol’ our line, and the archers started firing from the rear. I swear to you, I didn’t see more than a handful of ‘em drop in that shield wall. We must’ve loosed undreds of arrows at em, and it didn’t do shit. When we actually started fightin’ hand to hand, it was a bleedin nightmare. There were at least as many of them as there were o’ us, and they were all armored an’ in formation. Disciplined like. They kept their line, lashin out with their swords again and again… we were being slaughtered, and we’d barely taken any of them. Most of us in the rear had already started prayin when Borgrek and his men showed up. Flanked ‘em, storming down the tunnel and crashing into them lik’ a wave of steel. I remember watchin him, somehow horseback in that cramped tunnel, striking ‘em down left and right, way up there at the front with all his boys. They smashed ‘em and broke their formation and started pushin ‘em up to us, and we started pushin back for the first time. I’d never felt anything like that, turning the tide back then… Before we knew it, they were routed, and not a single of Borgrek’s lot dead. It was incredible. I think that’s when I started believin’ in the cause for true. Before, I’d just resented the taxes and brewin’ season… but Borgrek won us the day, and won the rest of us as well. Gods rest his soul.” After successfully pushing back the Reich, all diplomatic ties were severed. All diplomats were sent home to Stavengar, sans their heads, and King Azaghal was outraged. Borgrek later told me that this was an overly hasty decision, spurred on by the perceived betrayal during negotiations and a general lack of communication. Unfortunately, the Consulate stalled, and this combined with strategic guerrilla attacks crippled the recruitment efforts and for another year Stavengar could raise no standing army. It was during this time that the Ashelani opened trade channels with the Federation, providing a desperately needed infusion of wealth into their economy. This allowed Borgrek to finally commission a new army and properly outfit and train his old one. This new army was his personal creation, a unified and well organized dwarven military system. To this end, Borgrek took the field against his enemies. For a few months he wreaked havoc in Stavengar, sabotaging key government and military installations. The local economy, already weakened by the loss of the mines, was negatively impacted even further. Borgrek and his men enjoyed initial success against the Reich soldiers during this period, but ultimately the General underestimated Duke Adolph tactical abilities. The foreign general was able to design a cunning ambush, trapping the Federation soldiers against a major river, before routing them in a massed cavalry charge, officially pushing the enemy soldiers back into Federation lands. At this time, things began to escalate further. The Ashelani had established a formal alliance with the dragonkin of Ignis through marriage, and an attempt at convincing the rebels to parlay leads to an official declaration of aid to the Federation. After meeting with Borgrek, the Queen agreed to fund and equip the rebel armies, and to offer them military support as well. Shortly afterwards, the Ashelani launched a large surprise attack on the Rhiam Reich, with whom distrust had long been simmering. Officially declarations of war were made, with the Reich and Stavengar directly opposing the Ashelani and the DPF, and via alliance, the Ignati as well. Following this, the Ignati, emboldened by the initial success of the Ashelani, declared a war of their own against the five gods of ancient Ahuazara and begin a military campaign to claim their ancient land for themselves. War now was being waged in three seperate theatres. The Ignati and the Five waged fought on Liosa, Stavengar opposed the newly allied DPF and Ashelani on Ardunne (with assistance from Duke Adolph and his own regiment), and the Ashelani clashed with the Reich on Rhiam. It was a true world war, the first of its kind, and at the time only Kaz’ur and Mu’lakka remained independent. Ashelani invasion of the Reich was swift, and caught Emperor Helmuth and his soldiers entirely by surprise. Their victory at sea was absolute, and though it looked as though they might turn away the insects on land, the camouflage of the Ashelani led them to take the day, defeating the Emperor’s personal guard to a man. They began the process of subjugating the Reich and it’s peoples, preparing it for assimilation into the queens lands. After the attack, the emperor commissioned and read a speech to his people, which I have managed to acquire from a particularly disheartened Reich soldier turned refugee. "Yesterday, December 7, 868--a date which will live in infamy--the Rhiam Reich was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval forces of the Empire of the Ashelani. The Reich was at peace with that nation, and, at the solicitation of the queen, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Stinheim lands. Indeed, one moment after Ashelani creatures had commenced assaults on our ships, the Ashelani ambassador to the Reich and I had a pleasant chat. While this conversation did derail slightly into an argument over the merits of brewing season, it contained no threat or hint of war or armed attack. It will be recorded that the distance of Rhiam from Ardunne makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time the Ashelani ambassador has deliberately sought to deceive the Reich by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace. The attack yesterday on our fleet has caused severe damage to Rhiam naval and military forces. Very many Rhiam lives have been lost. In addition, Rhiam ships have been reported assaulted on the high seas between Hammesburg and the Stinheim lands. Yesterday the Ashelani Queen also launched an attack against Mittenberg. Last night Ashelani forces attacked Groenstein. Last night Ashelani forces attacked Bjorndagar. Last night Ashelani forces attacked the Draum Rey. Last night the Ashelani attacked Ornhus. This morning the Ashelani attacked Hammesburg. The queen has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Rhiam and Stinheim areas. The facts of yesterday speak for themselves. The people of the Rhiam Reich have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation. As commander in chief of the Army and Navy I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense. Always will we remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the Rhiam people, in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory. Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger. With confidence in our armed forces--with the unbounded determination of our people--we will gain the inevitable triumph--so help us. I declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by the Ashelani on Sunday, December 7, a state of war has existed between the Rhiam Reich and the Ashelani Empire." As war raged on Rhiam between Ashelani and Reich naval and ground forces alike, King Azaghal had finally managed to raise armies to attempt to drive the DPF forces out of his lands. Altogether, five armies were now mustered in Stavengar, prepared to fight. Two of Stavengar, Two of the DPF, and One of the Reich. A force of Ashelani had arrived in DPF lands, but were unable to reach the front in time. These forces arrayed themselves on the field of Ull and did battle. As the day began, the Reich and the Stavengarian forces had been marching for night on 3 days, through a truly fierce storm which had mudded the ground and did great damage to morale. At the far end of the field, one the DPF armies was heavily entrenched, waiting at the ready, while Borgrek held another army in reserve, newly outfitted with Ashelani weapons and tactics. Upon the enemy forces coming into sight, it is my understanding that the DPF charged down Stavengars forces, seeking to crush them before they could deploy in force. Their attack, earnest though it was, failed to break the superior numbers of the enemy. Borgrek prepared to take the field with his own army, intending to flank the enemy and finish them, but for the first time the Head General is succinctly outmaneuvered. In the beginning hours of the battle, Duke Adolph had taken his personal cavalry retinue, many of them nobility of Rhiam, and flanked Borgrek himself, forcing him to make a stand or flee. Faced with the loss of everything should he fell, he chose to retreat, ordering all of his men to fall back through the valley pass. The force fighting in the valley, having already taken heavy losses, was unable to retreat in time, and was eventually routed by their numerically superior foes. Back on Rhiam, the Ashelani navy was reinforced and managed to destroy the enemies’ sole fleet, blockading the nation and preventing trade from reaching the desperate Reich Emperor Koragg, newly crowned. The personal honor guard of the emperor, The Knights of the Golden Eagle, had been slain, alongside Emperor Helmuth and no support seemed to be coming from his allies. In his desperation, the newly crowned Emperor Koragg instituted a draft, enlisting all men over the age of 13 into the military to push back the Ashelani invaders. Incredibly, his desperate act worked. The Ashelani are smashed by the desperate Rhiam soldiers in a final battle, both of their expeditionary forces slain and driven from Rhiam. Much had been lost, including the capitol city and the ancient fortress of Daerholdt, but the Reich lands were, for the moment, free of invaders. However, the blockade continued, prohibiting the Reich from sending any aid to Stavengar and denying their ruined economy any recovery. Shortly after this, my own homeland entered the war. For a time, my council had watched and waited, to see the nature of this war and who we ought to support. In the end, the Sawmanji recognized the resourcefulness and grit of the Dwarven rebels, and deemed them worthy of our assistance. We signed an accord with the Ashelani, marking them as our allies, and I myself rode south to finalize the agreements with the DPF. The first time I met with General Borgrek, he had just returned from training his soldiers in the field, and was still armed and armored. I had been writing for three days and three nights alongside my old friend Khalid-al-Ibram, leader of our defensive legion, who was attending with me as another representative of Kaz’ur. At first, I could see the glint of hesitation in his eyes as he surveyed my fellow Ashik and I for the first time. Many of the other races find us somewhat unsettling at first, and given how distinctly different we are from many of them, I cannot wholly blamed them. When I explained why we had come to meet them, he was overcome with earnest enthusiasm, and our agreements were finalized within the hour. He was courteous and respectful to us, though rather arrogant as well. Over the coming days I spoke with him many times, and it soon became clear to me that his arrogance was well earned. Minds such as his come once in a generation. He was clever, patient, and methodical. He cared for his men’s lives, and was willing to do what needed to be done for victory. His approach to battlefield tactics reminded me remarkably of my own mentor, the Sawmanji, and I would like to believe he thought of me as his friend. His pride knew no limits, a trait which saw him impeded several times in his life, but I must say I found him rather endearing all the same. It would be some time, however, before we could ride in aid to our newly declared allies. Never before had the Ashik gone to war, and though our soldiers were proud and strong, it would take time to rouse our full might and reach the battlefields to the south of our home. Borgrek needed to hold out until our soldiers could ride to his aid, and they very nearly weren’t able to. Borgrek still had three armies in the south, with his own contingent of Ashelani troops and the army of the defector Vincegrin defending the homeland. It was a bitter and hard fought campaign, but eventually the King Azaghal, with the aid of Duke Adolph and his soldiers, managed to overcome the rebel troops. Over a period of several months, the various rebel forces were put down and their generals executed, as a sign of what fate awaited the remaining revolutionaries in the north. While mine own countries armies marched south, I myself rode out of the DPF lands, intent on carrying out the last task my council had given me before I left my homeland. I reached the main war camp of Stavengar at dawn, after a full day and night of riding. I had but a handful of companions with me then, and could have easily been overwhelmed had the dwarves chosen to ignore my request to meet with the King. Azaghal met with me though, and we discussed terms. When we met, I received the impression that he was somewhat similar to Borgrek, though at the same time he carried himself quite differently. I can say quite clearly, with no misunderstandings, that he was a King. Everything, from his manner of dress and the way he addressed me to the steely glint in his eyes told me that this man was a ruler. He was respectful and courteous, albeit a bit cold, but this was to be expected from a man who had been fighting a long and bitter war for as long as he had. We spoke but briefly, and I told him of the desire of Kaz’ur to try and mend the divide between the rebels and Stavengar before bloodshed became necessary. It was this discussion that led to Stavengarian involvement in the Mu’lakkan summit, though it ended in failure. Though he later denounced and insulted my people, and indeed we eventually clashed on the field of battle, his death did not bring me pleasure. I feel I could have learned much from him. All the same, the Mu’lakkan summit for peace ended in failure, and war was to continue. Riding at the head of our two forces of paladins, my mentor the Sawmnaji met me in DPF lands, and the offensive resumed for the first time. Interestingly, it is the first offensive in the war that has no casualties whatsoever- on either side. Adolph and Azaghal had conducted a strategic retreat prior to our coordinated offensive, and were well away by the time we had succeeded in securing the northern border. It was shortly after this failed offensive that I met with the Ignati Night Fighters who would be joining our armies. As I understood it, it was an exchange program arranged by the higher ups in order to bolster the Ignati war effort in their homeland, which had not been going well. I had met dragonfolk before, but had never spoken with them at length before now. Now, I can safely say that allying with the Ignati was a wise decision. These warriors, coated all in black, ingratiated themselves with my soldiers in a way I had never seen foreigners do with Ashik before. Daring and willing to take on the most dangerous missions we could find them, they were, and still are, a great boon to our military. When we were finally joined by the remaining Ashik forces, we had been marching for several months, skirmishing with Azaghal’s outriders and guerrillas. The battle to come would be the deciding one for the entire fate of Ardunne, and it promised to be one for the ages. Ten different armies took part in the battle, and it to date holds the title of largest military engagement in the history of our age. From here on out, I intend to limit my writings to my own experiences primarily. There are dozens of different tales of what occurred during the battle of the Shattered Pinnacle, many of them wildly different and far too fantastical to be the truth. I will touch briefly on the affairs of the other armies, but my focus will be upon my own battle and that of my fellow Ashik soldiers. The battle began late in the afternoon, when the sun hang low in the sky, colored a blood red as if to foretell the events to come. Azaghal and Adolph had fortified their troops uphill, on the upper levels of a large mound which was known to the local dwarves as the “Shattered Pinnacle.” This was my main concern, as my troops were all mounted and thusly at a disadvantage. There were four brigades of us then, all astride our war goats. The Sawmanji had entrusted the charge that was to come to me, preferring to command from the rear where he could watch the battle unfold and make decisions quickly. Many of the men were afraid, and many were excited. This was a historic event for my people, the first time we would actually ride into battle in force against another nation. Whether afraid or excited, it was uncharted territory for us all. Two hives of Ashelani accompanied us, and two of Borgrek’s armies joined us as well. Just before we first came upon them, the Ashelani made use of their camouflage and separated from us, intending to flank the enemy from above. They attempted to thin our numbers with arrows, but we had prepared for such tactics. We broke our formation, scattering in a dozen different directions, and reformed it quickly. Immediately we began the charge, closely followed by our dwarven allies. We were to act as the van, creating an opening for Borgrek’s men to move in. As we crossed the field, I could see Adolph’s knights preparing to meet us in the field. They had survived years of the bloodiest fighting Ardunne had ever seen, from the beginning of the war to the end, and were formidable opponents. But alone, even they would not be able to stop our charge. I signaled to the commander of the second division, and he drew his warriors off to the side, moving to meet Adolph’s knights. Loath though I was not to lead the clash against the old man, I had to ensure that an opening was created for Borgrek’s soldiers. We rode hard, and as one, thundering ahead atop our mighty steeds- until our charge was firmly halted. The dwarves had planned for us, and had trapped the bottom of the hill, digging a series of trenches designed to throw us from our mounts. A brilliant tactic, I thought, though not until after picking myself up from the ground. Many of our mounts had died, and we were scattered all along the base of the hill, thoroughly disorganized. Though the rear of Azaghal’s forces were concerned with the Ashelani, the front was still free to rain arrows down upon us, and far too many of us fell that day. Many would be reforged later, but too many were lost all the same. One of the brigades was lost here, thoroughly routed by the dwarven arrows finally finding purchase against our soul-binding runes. Another had lost far too many men and was close to breaking, until one of the fallen riders wielding a bow rallied the survivors to her, and managed to bring them over to where the rest of us had rallied in preparation for our assault. I learned after the battle when the Sawmanji honored her that this rider was known as Jasura, and I would later take her under my wing as a disciple. At this point, we dismissed the surviving mounts, trusting their training to take them back to our encampment, before we rallied into line formation and began our advance, clasping one fist before a brow and the other firmly onto our weapons. As we advanced, our rate of casualty finally slowed, and we managed to breach Azaghal’s lines. Whilst this had been going on, the remaining mounted brigade had been pursuing Adolph’s knights preparing to engage them. Through a clever bit of maneuvering on the Duke’s parts, he managed to break through our force and was headed straight for Borgrek’s advancing line of infantry, hoping to cripple them before they could join the battle on the hill. It was here that the Ignati warriors proved their true worth. Striking from seemingly nowhere, they managed to take out many of Adolph’s commanders, and thoroughly startled the horses to the point that the wedge they had formed fell into complete disarray. Caught between the Ashik war-goats and Borgrek’s infantry, the Knights are cut down like wheat before a scythe, the few survivors scattering. Whether Adolph was among them or not, I cannot truly say, as accounts of what role he played from this moment on are unclear. Reaching the front lines of the Stavengarian infantry alongside my men, we reached the thickest point of the fighting. Once we had broken into the enemy, we pushed forward as far into their lines as we could before being halted by sheer numbers, when we were surrounded. Forming a massive ring within the Stavengar soldiers, we tore through the dwarven soldiers, their losses far outstripping our own. In close quarter combat, against large number of foes, my people truly excel in combat. It was not long before Borgrek’s own men reached our position and poured over the battlefield, providing us with the numerical edge we needed to win. We fought for hours, and I found myself alongside dwarf, Ashik, Ignati, and Ashelani alike. We continued to push forward towards Azaghal, hoping to capture him and end not only the battle, but the war. As we approached him, we actually began to lose ground on the right flank, where Azaghal’s honor guard had been deployed to hold back Borgrek’s commoner soldiers. I rallied the remaining Ashik soldiers to me and moved to assist the Federation soldiers. Azaghal’s honor guard fought like men possessed, and the captain, a stout dwarf in golden armor with dark red hair, crossed blades with me for what must have been a quarter of an hour… At the end of the day, Azaghal, Borgrek, and Adolph all lay dead, along with Adolph’s brothers and his sons, heirs to the throne of Stavengar. In the wake of the battle, the Ashelani retreated to their homeland to deal with a crisis there, and Vincegrin assumed command of the Federation. With no King to rule, power fell to the Senate that had been originally established in an attempt to end the revolution. That the peace accords would be signed here was an irony lost on none. A portion of Stavengarian land on the west coast was ceded to the Dwarven People’s Federation, and two Ashik armies were left in Stavengar to oversee the reconstruction of the nation by the Senate. War on the continent of Ardunne had, at last, come to an end. Much and more has changed since then, and the world hangs in a precarious balance now, facing the Age of the Immortals and the Hunger. But the Great War has almost drawn to a close, and this bloody chapter of history with it." Category:Nationbuilder IV: Celtanus